Fine-ore separator.



C. W. BELL.

FINE ORE SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17. 1914.

rammed Apr. 13, 1915.

INVENTOR A TTOR/VEYS THF NORRIS PETERS 00.. PHDmLITHO. WASHINGTON. D C.

FINE-ORE SEPAB-ATOR.

Application filed November 17, 1914.

To all whom it. may concern Be it known that I, CHARLIE W. BELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Riclfey, in the county of Tuscaloosa and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fine-Ore Separa tors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in fine ore separators, and has for its object to provide a device of the character specified, especially adapted for separating ore from other substances having different specific gravity, wherein the separation is based upon the physical fact that such materials are moved by flowing water at different velocities, the relative velocity depending upon the relative specific gravity.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through the improved separators, Fig. 2 is a top plan view, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal V sectional view showing the adjustable plate and its connections.

The present embodiment of the invention consists of a trough composed of a plane bottom 1 and sides 2, and the trough is supported in any suitable manner and is supplied with water, the water flowing into the trough at one end and out at the other. The trough is provided intermediate its ends with a transverse opening or slot 3, the said slot extending the full width of the trough. The slot or passage 3 is so arranged that it may be partially closed to vary the width thereof in accordance with the character of the material treated. This adjustment is obtained by means of a plate 4:, which is mounted in a rabbet or recess 5 in the upper face of the bottom 1, above the slot 01' passage 3, and the said plate is moved in a manner to be presently described.

A receptacle 6 is arranged below the trough at the slot or passage 3, the said receptacle being of suitable depth and belng of a length to extend beyond the trough at one side thereof. The receptacle is so arranged with respect to the trough that the slot or passage 3 is near the center of the receptacle, and the said receptacle 1s designed to hold water. The receptacle 1s filled with water to the level of the surface of the water flowing through the trough, so that there is no tendency of the water flowing through the trough to change its direction of motion at the slot or passage 8.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Serial No. 872,541.

The plate 4 is mounted at its ends in guides 7 in the side walls of the trough, and it is provided on its under face near each end with a transverse series of rack teeth 8. A shaft 9 is journaled transversely of the trough below the same, and near the slot or passage, and pinions or gear wheels 10 are secured to the ends of the shaft, each pinion meshing with the adjacent series of rack teeth on the plate. The shaft is provided with a hand wheel 11 at one end for convenience in turning the same, and it will be obvious that when the shaft is turned in the proper direction, the plate 4- may be moved toward the upper side wall of the slot or passage 3 to partially or to completely close the said opening. Above the slot or passage 3 the trough is provided with partitions 12, the said partitions being arranged longitudinally of the trough in spaced relation and they divide the interior of the trough at the bottom thereof into a series of narrow parallel passages for separating the water into sections in order to prevent eddies and cross currents.

The lower ends of the partitions extend to the upper side of the slot or passage 3, and the upper ends of the said partitions may stop at any desired point in the trough. It will be noted froman inspection of Figs. 1 and 3 that the side walls of the slot or passage 3 are not perpendicular to the plane of the bottom of the trough, but are inclined with respect thereto. The said side walls are parallel as shown, and each wall makes an acute angle with the plane of the upper face of the base.

In operation, the material to be separated as for instance, ore, mixed with sand and soil, is fed into the upper end of the trough together with the water. As the water flows down toward the outlet end of the trough the partitions l2 constrain the water to flow evenly and uniformly without eddies or cross currents and at right angles to the opening or gap 3. The lighter material such as sand and soil, which are fed with the ore will be carried by the running water at a higher velocity than the heavier ore, and by means of the plate 4 the width of the gap or passage 3 may be adjusted to a point where these lighter materials will leap the gap or passage, while the heavier materials will drop through the gap into the receptacle 6. In order to insure that the movement of the materials to be separated will not be impeded by extraneous means, the receptacle 6 is filled with waterto the level of the surface of the water in the trough. That is, there is no break in the current of water flowing through the trough at the gap or opening and little or no water passes the said gap in either direction. The heavier material, as for instance, the ore, is deposited in the receptacle or pocket 6 from which it may be removed in any suitable manner, as for instance by elevator buckets operating in the open space between the partition 9 and the opposite end .of the receptacle or pocket from the wheel 11.

The improved separator is as before stated, especially designed for separating the fine ore, that which has heretofore been lost in washers on account of the fine sub-division of the said ore and owing to the fact that it is mixed with sand and soil. The improved separator is especially adapted for reclaiming this finely sub-divided ore which has beenlost, and the separator will reclaim ore from the size of a grain of wheat down to the size of a grain of sand.

The present invention is an improvement over the construction shownin myco-pending application, Serial No. 846,522, filed June 22, 1914:, and the improvement consists in inclining the walls of the 'slot or passage 3 at an acute angle to the direction of flow of the material. Were the side walls perpendicular to the direction of fiow' of the material when the fine materials approach the upper side of the slot or passage they would fall vertically, and cause a downward current to be setup on the upper side of the passage and an upward current on the lower side. This action materially reduces the efficiency of the separator and to prevent the currents the slot is inclined as shown.

With the inclined arrangement, when the material reaches the slot or passage it will fall entirely across the passage, and the downward current caused at the upper side of the passage will be counteracted and eliminated by the upward current at the opposite side. Thus there will be no flow of currents in the slot or passage, and the materials may be acted upon entirely by gravity. It will be noticed that the plate i is provided with a depending lip 14: whose adjacent face is parallel to the opposite or upper side wall of the slot or passage, the lip CHARLIE VILBUR BELL.

Witnesses:

R. H. LONG,

M nDIE LONG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

